The Ultimate DIY Rocks!

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7660340#post7660340 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Insane Reefer
Bizarre. Does that mean the physical weight of the water is locked in too? For example, if you used 1lbs or water, would the rock be 1lbs heavier?

Granted, we use very little water in these mixes, or at least I use little, but pounds do add up...
Curious to know.

Here is a short quote from desertusa.com.

"The limestone form of calcite has been extensively used since ancient times. It is burned to quicklime (CaO), slaked to hydrated lime [Ca(OH)2] and mixed with sand to make mortar. Limestone is one of the primary ingredients in the manufacture of portland cement. It is employed in metallurgical processes and as aggregate for both concrete and asphalt mixes."

Let me make a wild guess. If the Ca has a weight of 40.08, oxygen 15.9994, hydrogen 1.0079, then the CaO would equal (rounded) 56 and the [Ca(OH)2] 74 without checking my addition. If the water is not in the mix, the CaO will suck it out of moisture in the atmosphere which is why your concrete mix has to be kept sealed until use. That atomic weight would be about 32% of the mix but the percentage quoted in product specs is up to 27%. Conversion and impurities could be the explanation for the difference.

 

[Insane Reefer]

Wow Rhodo - I am seriously going to have to get that college friend of mine to sit down with me and explain what you just said - I know this last semester he was learning about atomic weights and conversions and all that chemistry stuff. He also did cement work as a teen for his dads construction crew...

You went way over this girls head, lol.

 

[zman90]

DIY rock mix I used for dry ingredients: Oyster shell, Pukka shells, and Portland cement.

4 Parts Oyster shell
1 Part Pukka shells
1 Part Portland cement (When I didn't have Pukka shells, I substituted this part with another part of Oyster shells) Add Water

DYI Rock for the 120 9/05
Ingredients 240 (5 fifty lbs bags, a little left in one) lbs Oyster
Shells
I used about 3/4 90 lbs Portland
30 lbs Puka shells (2 bags whatever their weight was)

Put them in the tank 9/05 - I broke a lot of rock that I didn't like and used the pieces. Some of those I liked the most.

Took some out and put them in the sump later and rearranged.

6-23-06 - Fighting an algae problem and not the coralline variety...

 

[Insane Reefer]

Algae bloom is a commonly reported phenomenon in tanks which have rock made with cement, and especially common with oyster shell. I have heard that part of the cleaning process of the shells is a chemical process. I would hazard that the chemicals are soaking into the oyster shell (very porous), and while being rinsed good enough for chickens, the residual chemical could be slowly leeching into the system. This doesn't seem to be a big problem with commercial manmade live rock, as they usually are c/kuring in either the ocean or large facility, and probably the rock that we purchase is several months or more, old and the chemicals finally are dissipated...

Get a lot of cleaners - something that won't die when the algae is gone, because if you do everything right, the algae will eventually go away, with help and time...

Great looking stack though - nice job!

 

[bnplu]

I there a good method for cleaning the oyster shell before you make your rock so that you could help to prevent the blooms?
I agree on the stacking. Nice!

 

[Insane Reefer]

Maybe kuring the oyster shell, or boiling before use? Maybe research and see if you can find out if this is even true, just farmer hearsay, but could account for the lush algae blooms, especially if a high phosphate (to name one of many) chemical is used.

Or plan an extra long kuring time - see how long it takes Zman to level out, and use that as a base. Or my favorite, don't use the stuff. Post at your local pet shops (or forum) for used Crushed Coral - lots of people want to get rid of it for a variety of reasons, and most will just give it to you. Also, ask your petstore about Bulk orders of crushed coral - I got a sweet deal going with my LFS - for 40lbs bags. Makes more realistic rock IMO, and as pointed out by Travis, CC doesn't cut the crap out of you.

 

[Covey]

Skip it all together if you make the original "Travis 3rd Batch" style rocks the Salt and the Portland is all you need for detail.
These rocks are very detailed if made right.

 

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7665988#post7665988 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Insane Reefer
....I have heard that part of the cleaning process of the shells is a chemical process. ....

All I have found is that the shells are washed in water and then dried at 250 degrees to kill residual bacteria. When I first used oyster shell in my saltwater tanks in the 1970's, it was $2.00 for a 100 pound bag. Now you can pay more than that for a 10 oz. bag if you buy it for your cage birds.

 

[coryjac0b]

These are some DIY rocks i started about 9 months ago.

 

[Savatage]

ZMAN90: Your rocks look nice in your tank. I like the shelving effect you have there, but these guys are right about the crushed oyster shells. They are crap (IMO) and they are also super high in PH and take forever to leach out.

Another thing. I have made these same rocks and have had them in my tank for about a year now. Yes they look cool, but turn out to be no good after a while. For some reason they look too fake.

Anyway, I don't want to get this thread off course so I'll make this quick. If you want to get rid of your algae (GHA) problem, buy yourself a Fox Face Lo or a Fox Face Rabbit. Once the algae is gone you have to feed it sheets of algae.
I have battled GHA for over a year and finally got me a Foxface. No more algae problem. It cleaned my entire tank in less than two days.

 

[Insane Reefer]

Well, the LFS store came today and took "Nessy" and the other rock I had made. I'm going over there later to talk $$$, but have no idea what I'm doing here, lol. I know this batch for him, because he provided the crushed coral and the sand, only cost me $30 to make and he has about 125-150lbs of rock now. Cost on future rock will go up because of the cost of said materials, but I'm only concerened about this rock now, because I am gettign trade on it

 

[Insane Reefer]

Oh, and I'll have to look back, but he said he cured the first sample pieces in RO, and that they are done already - I'm not sure if he did the 3 day test in salt, so will find that out, but if he did, that means those first large pieces I posted a few weeks back are done - maybe this white cement has more advantage than I thought...
Will keep you posted on that - have to go feed horses and then talk to a man about some rock, lol..

 

[zman90]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7667808#post7667808 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Savatage
ZMAN90: They are crap (IMO) and they are also super high in PH and take forever to leach out.

Another thing. I have made these same rocks and have had them in my tank for about a year now. Yes they look cool, but turn out to be no good after a while. For some reason they look too fake.

Here is my 75 that has 4 DIY rocks and the rest Walt Smith and LFS. Which ones are the DIY? And I have not found any high pH problems, in fact I have issues keeping pH higher than 8.0. I believe it is from residual CO2 from the CA reactor. The 75 and 120 are tied to the same sump.

 

[Savatage]

I think you misunderstood me. During the kuring process, it took almost twice as long for me to kure the rocks with crushed oyster shells than it did for any other rocks I made. Maybe it's just coincidence, but it did.

As for looking fake......I still have them in my tank, but compared to the others I have made, they look fakier against the newer style. Don't get me wrong, they looked and look great, but once you and these new 4 to 1 salt/cement rocks, it just makes them real noticeable (IMO)

I have now made a large quantity of new rocks and as soon as they kure out, I will replace one third of my rock every few months. I personally like the look.

As for algae problems with the crushed coral. I'm only agreeing with someone else on this only because after three months of having the rocks they were covered with GHA. This is why I got myself a Foxface Rabbit Fish. He did a wonderful job on my rock.

 

[Insane Reefer]

I think maybe you misunderstood too Savatage, I was the one that said that CC didn't seem to cause excessive algae bloom - the CO does...
Or at least more so that the cement itself seems to cause...

 

[Savatage]

I said the wrong thing in my post above. I see where I put CC and I meant to say CO. If you look up further, about 4 or 5 up, I was talking about CO. And yes, I believe what you said about the CO. Again, that is what I meant to say.

I have made rocks with CC and I like them. Had no problems at all other than personal preferance with how the salt/cement look. That's all.

If I started something here, I didn't mean to. Sorry. Just putting my experience in.

 

[Insane Reefer]

No, NO Savatage, didn't mean to come off with 'tude, if that's how you took it, please, I was just setting the record straight in case of confusion

 

[Savatage]

It's all good.

 

[Savatage]

Oops! Bumped the button.

Anyway, all I was saying that I wrote CC and meant to write CO and that kind of threw my post for a loop. I was saying I can see how it was written wrong.

What I meant by the starting something, I was appologizing to ZMAN90 because I didn't mean to offend his rock. I think his rock looks pretty darm good. I wish I would have thought to make some supe flat pieces like he did. I like the shelving effect.

 

[Savatage]

On this pic, you can see the two rocks on the left are made of cement and oyster shells. Not the rock with the anemone. That is Fiji LOL.
The real big one and the other one that is pointing straight up.

Look at the bottom left corner of the tank. As you can see, I turned the huge rock on it's side. Used it as a base. I propped it up with three other little rocks to create a cave effect. My rocks were fine for a while. Now the rocks that are CO and cement, all have algae. Well they did. LOL. My Foxface took care of that unsightly problem.

This might strike a few people as odd, but I plan to break up some of my rock and cover the remainder of my sand bed to allow GHA to grow in that area as a food sorce for the Foxface. As long as he keeps it mowed down to a point of keeping it nice and short, it won't look too bad IMO.